The Art of Messing Up
by The Ice Fury
Summary: My name's Astrid Haddock. I'm the daughter of Stoick the Vast, but he's pretty much disappointed in me all the time. That's Hiccup Hofferson. He's the best dragon hunter our age. He's probably going to be chief someday instead of me. But I can't fight dragons, he can. What can go wrong when I meet a Night Fury?
1. Ok, But I Hit a Night Fury!

**Chapter 1: Ok, But I Hit a Night Fury!**

This is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. My village. In a word? Sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see where most people might have mice or mosquitos, we have dragons. Most people would leave, but not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues.

I narrowly dodged a Nadder's blast as I ran though the village.

My name's Astrid. Luckily, my name is one of the few that isn't awful. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't.

I ran past a huge man as he threw a catapult at a dragon in the sky. It hit the dragon. That's Stoick the Vast, Chief of the tribe. They say when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head clean of its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes I do.

I ran into the blacksmith. "Where have you been?" Gobber said, banging on a red-hot sword. The meathead with interchangeable hand is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Or little-er.

"Hey Gobber," I replied. I snatched my apron off its hook and pulled it on. Then I grabbed a bunch of broken weapons and started to heat them up.

A house caught fire outside and five teens hauled buckets of water to put the fire out. Oh, that's Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and... _Hiccup_. Their job is so much cooler.

Ok, Hiccup doesn't look like much, but he can outmatch any Viking in the village. He uses his size to pretend he can't fight, then hits you when you least expect it. He's _awesome_.

I tried to run outside and grab a bucket, but Gobber caught me by the back of my shirt and lifted me off my feet. "You're not going anywhere, Astrid."

"Please let me go! I need to make my mark!" I begged.

Gobber set me down and said, "Oh, you've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places."

"Oh come on! I can go outside, kill a dragon, and my life would get infinitely better! I might even get a date," I told him.

"How are you going to do that?" Gobber asked. "You can't swing a sword, you can't lift an axe, you can't even throw one of these!" Gobber held up a bola.

"Maybe not, but this can throw it for me!" I said, patting my newest invention.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get back to work," Gobber said, turning around to keep pounding of the sword.

"Night Fury!" I barely heard the call over the chaos outside.

"Get down!" somebody yelled. I heard the whistle of a Night Fury, and saw the huge blast of fire on a building. The thing never steals food, never shows itself, and never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the first.

Gobber pulled me out of my thoughts by yelling, "They need me out there! Man the fort, Astrid!" He ran outside, raising up his axe/hand.

I took my chance and wheeled my bola-launcher outside. Vikings shouted at me to get back inside, but I ignored them as I rolled the bola-launcher to a hill. Then I set up my launcher and waited for the right moment. There was the whistle. I saw a dark shadow and shot at it.

I could hear the dragon scream as it fell towards Raven Point. "Yes!" I yelled, throwing my arms up, "Did anyone see that?"

I turned to find myself face-to-face with a Monstrous Nightmare. "Except you of course," I said.

I ran and hid behind a wooden pole. The Nightmare fired and the heat started to burn through the pole. I tried to see around the large pole, and suddenly Stoick bolted past me and hit the dragon with his war hammer. Turns out the dragon was sneaking up behind me. After a while, the dragons flew away, taking _a lot_ of sheep with them.

Stoick the Vast turned around and yelled, "Really Astrid? You need to be more careful! One of these days you are going to destroy the village!"

"Ok, but I hit a Night Fury."

"Astrid!"

I looked at the ground and said, "Sorry Dad." Stoick handed me over to Gobber.

"Take her inside," he told Gobber. Then to me he said, "Stay in the house!"

The teen Vikings taunted me on the way up.

"Wow, you messed up BIG time!" Snotlout said. He was my cousin, but who cares about family, right?

"That was epic fail right there," Tuffnut joked. Ruffnut snorted at that. The worst part was that Hiccup just stared. He didn't laugh, he didn't frown, he just sat there and looked at me. But soon enough Gobber dragged me past them and dropped me off at my house.

"Stay in here this time," Gobber told me. I sighed then he said, "What?"

Then I exploded. "He barely looks at me! And when he does it's with this disappointed scowl. Like someone skipped the meat on his sandwich. I'm a toothpick!"

Gobber shook his hook at me. "You're thinking about this all wrong. It's not what's on the outside he can't stand, it's what's on the inside."

"Thanks for summing that up," I said, opening the door.

"What I'm sayin is, don't try to be someone you're not," Gobber said.

I pushed the door open. "I just want to be one of you guys." I slammed the door closed before Gobber could say anything else. Tonight I would stay in the house, but tomorrow I'm going to find that Night Fury.

* * *

Chapter 1! So it's not going to be exactly like the movie, this chapter is probably is most similar to the movie, but it will branch out soon. Enjoy and review!


	2. I'm a Viking!

**Chapter 2: I'm a Viking!**

I drew another x on my map. I had been in the forest all day, and still no sign of the Night Fury, and my map is filled with x's. Maybe the dragon got away.

"Ugh!" I kept walking through the forest. "Some people lose their knife or their axe, but I managed to lose a whole dragon!" I hit a tree branch and hit swung back to hit me in the face.

Then I noticed the path of broken trees and skid marks. Like something crashed through here at high speed. Something like a dragon.

I followed the path, keeping my eyes wide open for any movement. I looked over a rock. There is was, all tangled up in the bola I shoot at it. I walked down to it and saw it wasn't moving.

"Yes! I did it! I brought down this mighty beast," I said, looking at the dragon and pulling out my dagger. Suddenly, it's eye popped open. It looked at me with sadness and defeat, and I quickly looked away. "Ok dragon, I'm- I'm going to cut your heart out and take it to my father. I'm a Viking," I said getting my dagger ready. "I'm a Viking!" I yelled.

The dragon moaned and closed its eye. I watched it breathe heavily and I realized something.

I couldn't do it.

This dragon didn't deserve to die. I looked at the ropes tangled around its wings. "I did this," I said to myself as I backed away. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I knew what I had to do.

The dragon's eye opened back up when it felt me cutting the ropes. I'm sawed them off as quickly as possible, trying not to get eaten. Once it was free, it pounced on me. It held me down, growling. This is it. I'm done for. I expected a bite, but I roared at me and took off. I watched it fly away, something seemed off. But I shook myself off and started going back to the village.

* * *

I snuck back in the house. Dad was sitting by the fire with his back to the door. I was halfway up the steps when he noticed I was there.

"Astrid."

I stopped. "Hey dad."

He stood up and turned to face me. "We need to talk."

I groaned inwardly. "Yeah, I think we do." Then we both said something at the same time. "You go first," I told him.

Dad wrung his hands together and said, "Well, you get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."

I walked down the steps. "Oh, I should have gone first. You see, I've noticed we have an abundance of dragon fighting Vikings, but do we have enough- bread making Vikings, or small home repair-"

"You'll need this," Dad interrupted me like I wasn't speaking. He handed me an axe, and I held the heavy weapon awkwardly.

"Dad, I don't want to fight dragons," I said.

"Yes you do!" he answered with a small laugh, like I had just made a good joke.

"Ok- rephrase. I can't kill dragons." I had to make him understand.

"But you will kill dragons!" He was still using the same tone.

I looked everywhere except my dad. "I'm pretty sure I won't-"

Dad just ignored me and picked up his helmet and his pack. "Gobber will meet you in the arena in the morning. I'll be back. Probably."

"And I'll be here. Maybe," I said with a sign as Dad left.

What have I gotten myself into?


	3. Waste of Resources

**Chapter 3: Waste of Resources**

I woke up to see the sun barely peeking over the horizon. I quickly pulled on my shoulder armor, which my dad _insisted_ I wear, and my skirt. My skirt didn't have any spikes, even though the other teen girl's skirts did. With my clumsy habits, I would probably poke myself all the time. It annoyed my dad to no end.

I decided not to eat breakfast. My stomach was too upset. I swung the heavy axe my dad gave me last night on my shoulder and walked out the door. The other teens were walking towards the huge arena, so I followed them there.

Hiccup lead the group, holding his sword in his left hand. Since he was left handed, he could catch you by surprise with his sword when he was fighting.

"I hope I get a really awesome scar!" Tuffnut said loudly as they all walked through the threshold.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Hiccup replied.

I shifted my axe to my other shoulder. "Yeah, pain. Love it," I said.

Tuffnut turned around and frowned when he saw me. "Who invited you?"

I went to answer but Gobber came up behind us and said, "Let's go guys." Then to me he said, "Don't worry, the dragons will see you as small and go after the more Viking-like kids." He said it as if it would make me feel better. It didn't. He patted me on the shoulder and left me in line with the others.

Gobber stood in front of the line of teens and announced, "Today you will learn how to fight dragons such as..." My mind started to wander as Gobber said the same speech that he said every year. I had heard it so many times I didn't really listen. All I could think about was those doors, shaking with the pressure of a dragon behind them. And of the Night Fury yesterday, who didn't kill me. Why?

Suddenly, Gobber slammed down the lever beside him and a Gronkle raced out the now open door. I readied my axe and waited for the right moment. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were fighting over a shield, and the Gronkle blasted at them.

I threw my axe as hard as I could and it hit the dragon's tail. It didn't even cut it though. Well, at least I hit it.

"Nice going, Astrid!" Gobber yelled as I picked my axe back up. Hiccup charged the Gronkle with his sword and he almost hit it before the dragon flew up. I threw my axe at the Gronkle again, and this time the dragon was stunned long enough for Hiccup to stab it with his sword. It blasted one more blast of lava and fell to the ground. Dead.

"Good job Hiccup. You to Astrid," Gobber said loudly as we all caught our breath. I picked up my axe, and looked at the dead dragon on the ground. I felt sick. I helped kill this dragon.

I shouldered my axe and started walking out of the arena. "Where are you going?" Ruffnut shouted at me, but I didn't listen. I wanted to feel proud, I just helped kill a dragon! But I couldn't. I could only feel guilty. The image of the dead dragon kept popping up in my mind. Ugh! The one time I act like a real Viking and I can't stomach it!

I didn't care or pay attention to wear I was going. I eventually realized I was at the place where I last saw the Night Fury. I looked over to abandoned ropes that I sawed off the black dragon yesterday. I walked on, just looking at the trees. I found a tunnel leading to a beautiful cove. There was a pond in the middle of it and there were trees and rocks around to. I walked towards the short cliff that overlooked the cove.

Looking back, I should have noticed the black dragon right over me, about to take off.

But, I didn't, so you can imagine how scared I was when the dragon launched, trying to fly out of the cove. It first thing I noticed was the dragon wasn't flying strait. It's tail swung wildly, and it couldn't catch its balance. I got down on my hands and knees to hide from the dragon. Maybe it didn't see me.

But I'm Astrid Haddock, so of course it saw me. While it was just sitting there, I realized I needed to call it something other than _it_. Ok, so the Night Fury was a female. Like that would help. Hopefully she doesn't have any eggs, or else I'm doomed.

After a few minutes of staring, the dragon shot a small plasma blast at the rocks below me. I stood up and ran faster than I had ever run before. I ran all the way back to the village and into the blacksmith. I had to stop to catch my breath. Still taking deep breaths, I walked slowly into my back room.

Ok so it really was just a tiny room that could barely fit my desk, but I spent more time here than my own house. Gobber disliked this room because he could barely fit through the door, so he gave it to me. The room was filled with little prototypes of inventions I wanted to make. I didn't draw much, just a few pictures of new inventions. I leaned my axe against the wall and sat down to work on my latest shield prototype.

"Hey, anyone here?" I heard the voice coming from the shop. I stood up and tied my apron on without looking.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec," I called back. Once my apron was tied on, I walked into the shop.

"Is Gobber here?" I looked over at the person standing by the window. Hiccup.

"Oh- hi Hiccup. Gobber's not here. Need your sword sharpened?" I said somewhat nervously. Hiccup didn't notice.

"Yeah, that dragon today dulled it," he replied, laying his sword on the counter. I picked it up and looked it over. It was a light sword, but long. It still had the dragon's blood on it.

I used my thumb to scratch some of the dried blood off of it. "You didn't clean it," I said. Who doesn't clean their sword?

"So what?" Hiccup said as he walked in the shop, looking at the weapons on the wall. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a rag from the corner. "It's not like it matters."

I dipped the rag in a bucket of water and started cleaning the sword. "It does matter," I told him. "This sword will rust a lot quicker if it's covered in blood constantly. And it could last a long time, since it's so well-made." I scraped the sword with the wet rag. I helped make this sword a few years ago. I remember Gobber telling me the same thing I just told Hiccup.

Hiccup shrugged. "I can get a new one when this one rusts."

I huffed. Waste of resources.

He turned around and glared at me. "What?"

I glared back at him. "You're being wasteful. This is a very durable sword, and you're fine with ruining it! You can't always buy a new one every time you use it!" I bit the inside of my mouth. I just yelled at _Hiccup Hofferson._

He looked stunned. I guess he never had anyone speak to him like that. I finished cleaning off his sword and started sharpening it. Once I was finished, I laid the now sharp sword on the counter. Hiccup picked it up and looked it over. Then he gave me some gold pieces and left. I took the money and put it in my pocket. I'll give it to Gobber later.

I sat back down at my desk and picked up the shield.


	4. It Tasted Worse Than My Cooking

**Chapter 4: It Tasted Worse Than My Cooking**

I woke up to Ruffnut standing over me. "Ruffnut, why are you are in my house?!"

She just smiled in her evil way. "You're forgetting someone!" She yelled. Forgetting someone? Oh no...

I looked up and saw Tuffnut hanging from the rafters and holding a terrified chicken. As soon as I saw him he dropped the chicken on me. The bird scratched my face and arms with its claws, and pecked my face. The twins ran from my room, howling in laughter. I finally got the chicken caught and took it outside. It ran in circles before running to its buddies at the bottom of the hill. Since my dad was gone, the twins could prank me in my house. Great.

I walked back in my house, looking everywhere for a trap those awful twins could have left behind. Finding none, I realized my face and arms were bleeding. Using a wet rag and my mirror which used to be my mother's, I cleaned my scratches. I felt like crying. Why couldn't everyone just be nice? Why did I have to be so different?

I looked out the window. It was time for dragon training. I could see the other teens walking into the ring, including the twins. They were all laughing, probably at me. I looked towards the docks. My dad wasn't going to get home till tomorrow, at the earliest.

I decided I was going to visit the Night Fury. She was just interesting. And, I didn't want to put up with the laughter today. I put on my shoulder armor and walked out the door. Luckily, I wore my skirt to bed last night.

A while later, I found myself laying beside the water in the cove. I didn't see the Night Fury. I knew I should be scared, but for some reason I wasn't. Maybe it was because yesterday the dragon could have killed me but didn't. Or maybe it was because whether I ran or not, if the dragon wanted to kill me she would have no problem.

I must have dozed off because I woke up to warm air blowing in my face. I held myself completely still, waiting for- well, I don't know. I barely opened one eye. I was met with two bright green eyes staring at me. The dragon sniffed my face and arms. She purred- who knew a dragon could purr? - when she saw the blood on me. I know this sounds crazy, but the dragon almost looked worried. Like she was worried about my face and arms. Like she was worried about me.

"It's only a few scratches," I whispered against my better judgement. When the dragon noticed I was awake, she growled. "What?" She focused her death glare on my shoulder armor. "Oh you don't like these? I don't either," I said quietly. I slowly reached my arm up and took them off. The Night Fury jerked her head to show she wanted my to throw them towards the water.

I threw them a short ways away, then laid back down. The dragon came back up and started sniffing me again, purring as if she approved my outfit now. I felt the almost uncontrollable urge to pet the dragon. I just wanted to know what a dragon would feel like.

I reached out my hand. The dragon growled a bit. I hesitated, then squeezed my eyes shut. I reached out my hand a little more, eyes still closed. I could feel her warm breath on my hand, then... I felt her push her nose into my hand. I opened my eyes, and stared at the dragon who was letting me pet her. She lifted her head, and then walked away. I sat up, and watched her for a bit. She laid down, first heating up the ground then laying on the warm place.

I had an idea and stood up and grabbed a sharp stick. There was only a few things I was good at, and fishing was one of them. I sat very still and waited for a fish to swim to me. Once one did, I stabbed it with my stick. I took the dead fish off the stick and showed it to the dragon. She picked up her head and looked curiously at me. I probably was pushing my luck with her, but she looked hungry.

She crept slowly towards me and I held the fish out. She opened her mouth as she got closer.

"Toothless? Wow, I would've thought you had-" teeth popped out of her gums and she grabbed the fish from my hand and ate in one gulp. Then she got closer and sniffed me, looking for more fish. "I don't have anymore," I told her as I stood still so she wouldn't bite me. I reached my hand out, palm up, wanting to pet her again. She took one look at my hand and threw up the head of the fish I just gave her in my hand.

"Ugh, that's nasty," I told her. She looked at me, then the fish, then back at me. "You want me to eat this?" My stomach told me it _did not_ want to eat it, but I didn't want to upset the Night Fury, so I took a bite.

All I can tell you that is was _awful._ Worse than my cooking, which is saying something. I showed the dragon I ate it. Maybe if she turned away I could spit it out. She just swallowed, telling me to swallow it. I did, and grinned at her. Thank Thor that was over.

She tried to imitate my smile, showing her gums. The image was so funny I burst out laughing. Here I was, standing with the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself _smiling at me._ It was so funny I dropped to the ground, still laughing.

This was worth the twins pranks, just so I could come see this toothless dragon smile at me. Toothless.

"Hey girl," I said, turning around to talk to the dragon. "How do you like the name Toothless?" She smiled again, and I knew I found the perfect name.


	5. I Am Not Useless!

**Chapter 5: I Am Not Useless!**

"Look Toothless! I finished it!" I called out to my new friend. I had stayed up for two nights in a row to make a model of Toothless with scrap medal and leather from memory. Yesterday I brought it to make sure it was right before I finished it. Toothless seemed to really like it.

Toothless bounded towards me, aand I held the model out. It was about a foot long, with a medal body and leather wings and fin. I put wire in the wings and fin so I could put them in different positions. I painted the medal black, with green eyes.

"Do you want to see if it will glide?" I asked her. She smiled, so I took that as a yes. I adjusted the wings so if would stay in the air, then threw it.

It stayed in the air for a second, but then dipped to the right and went down and hit me in the eye. "Ow! That should have worked. That's the position dragons are in when they glide," I said to myself, rubbing my eye. I looked the model over. The tail must have been setting the balance off, since there was only a fin on one side.

I looked over at Toothless's tail. It only had one fin. Maybe that was why she couldn't fly straight. I'm going to add another fin to the tail and see if it can glide after that.

* * *

"Ok, now it should work!" I looked through the semi-darkness, trying to find Toothless. I made the other fin and wanted to show Toothess before I had to go to sleep. Two nights of no sleep was getting to me. I saw two green eyes. "Look Toothless!" I held the model out. She focused on the tail, then gave me her nod of approval. I threw the dragon again, and this time it stayed in the air.

"Yes!" I shouted. Toothless looked sadly at her tail. "So that's why you won't fly away. You can't." I started thinking about fins I could make to help Toothless fly. "I'll make you a new one!" I told the black dragon. I picked up my model and started walking towards the village.

"You're going to get to fly very soon!"

I walked to the blacksmith to drop off my model before going home. When I was walking out, I was met with Hiccup and his sword.

"Sorry Hiccup, the shop is closed for the night," I told him shortly. I was still aggravated at him from what he said a few nights ago.

"Why haven't you been at dragon training?" Hiccup asked, running his thumb up the side of his weapon.

I shrugged, and tried to walk past him. He blocked me with his sword. "Why do you care?" I said. Why he couldn't just leave me alone?

He stared at my face and said, "What happened to your face?" I suddenly realized he was looking at the scratched on my face from the twins' prank. They hadn't faded yet.

"The idiot twins," I answered shortly. If I just waited him out, maybe he'll get bored and leave me alone.

"They are idiots, but they told me about the chicken. I was asking about your black eye."

My black eye? Oh, the model hit my eye this morning. I had forgot about it in my excitement of getting the model to work. I frowned at Hiccup. He smiled. "What?"

"You're stupid," he said.

"Yes, you've informed me of that fact before," I said. "Now excuse me, I must be going." I pushed past him. This time he let me by.

"See you tomorrow!" Hiccup called behind me. I rolled my eyes and headed up the hill. I walked in my house, and as soon as I did, I heard the scream of a dragon.

I ran back outside to see chaos. Dragons were everywhere, starting a raid I hadn't noticed in my anger. Great.

Apparently my dad was back, fighting two Nightmares at once. The teens were putting out fires. Except Hiccup wasn't with them. After a quick search, I spotted him where I left him, pinned down by Zippleback. His sword was laying on the ground, just out of his reach.

I jumped outside and ran to the blacksmith. I was careful that no one saw me. I slowed my pace once I got close, and crept towards Hiccup's sword. I grabbed the handle and raised the sword.

I wasn't planning on hurting it. I was just going to scare it away. But then one of its heads saw me and I panicked. I suddenly was looking at a Zippleback's head at my feet. The other head screamed, and got off of Hiccup.

The Zippleback slowly stopped screaming and collapsed on the ground. Hiccup turned and glared at me.

"I could have killed it on my own!"

I stared at him incredulously. I just saved his life and he was mad at me. I just killed a innocent creature and he didn't even say thanks! Anger bubbled up inside me. "No you couldn't! You couldn't have got out from under the dragon! You should be thanking me!" I could feel the whole village staring at me, but I was too mad to care.

"Just give me back my sword, Useless."

There it was. The nickname that I hated more than any other. Useless.

"I AM NOT USELESS!" I screamed, pointing the bloody sword at Hiccup. "I just killed a two-headed dragon that was about to eat you! YOU'RE WELCOME!"

I spun my heel and walked towards the forest. I needed to talk to Toothless. She would help me clear my head. I heard Hiccup following me. I turned at pointed his sword at his neck.

"Do not follow me. Or I will kill you to," I told him in a deadly calm voice. I turned and walked towards the forest.


	6. You're Proud?

**Chapter 6: You're... Proud?**

 _I was running in the pitch black. The only thing I could see was the one-headed Zippleback chasing me. It was mad at me for taking its head. It wanted revenge. Suddenly, Hiccup appeared in front of me._

" _Hello, Useless," he said in a sing-song voice. The other teens materialized around me, making a circle and singing, "Useless, Useless!" Tuffnut threw a chicken at me._

"I'm not Useless!" I sat up, breathing heavily. It was just a dream. I looked around.

The sun wasn't up yet, and the sky was just beginning to light up. I was sleeping beside Toothless after my awful night yesterday, and I wouldn't admit it to anyone, but I had shed more than a few tears last night. All night I had nightmares that woke me up, but Toothless helped me go back to sleep. Toothless looked annoyed that I woke her up, but when she heard my heavy breathing she looked worried.

"Sorry for waking you up." I stood up and brushed myself off. "Well, I need to go face my dad." I wanted to climb under Toothless's wing at the thought. Did he see what happened last night? Does he know I killed a dragon? Did he even realize I didn't come home last night?

"Bye Toothless," I said glumly as I put my shoulder armor back on. Toothless didn't like it but if I showed up at home without it, I probably wouldn't see the light of day again.

* * *

Before I knew it, I was standing in front of my house. No one was up yet, except for the Vikings on patrol, but I got past them with no problem. I pushed open the door and was met with a surprise.

My dad was hugging me. What happened? Did he almost die out there looking for the nest and thought he would never see me again? Did he know I killed a Zippleback?

This feeling was so unfamiliar I kind of froze up for a second before wheezing, "Dad- I think you're crushing me."

He set me down, but kept his hands on my shoulders. "I was wondering when you were going to get home! I'm so proud!"

"You're... proud?" I asked. The word felt foreign. He didn't seem upset that I hadn't come back last night.

"Of course! Gobber told me you killed a Zippleback! How did you do it?" Dad answered excitedly. He picked me up and set me in a chair so hard my teeth slammed together.

"Well... I chopped one of its heads off," I answered. I didn't want to tell him I felt guilty about it. He just looked so... proud. I didn't want to ruin the moment.

"With the axe I gave you?" Dad rubbed his hands together and sat down in his own seat. He looked like a little kid on Snoggletog morning.

I wrung my hands together. "No, um... with a sword."

"Who's sword?" Dad asked curiously. He knew I couldn't wield most of the most the swords in the shop.

"Hiccup's..." I said hesitantly.

"The Hofferson boy?" When I nodded, Dad looked thoughtful. "How did you get a hold of his sword?"

I took in a deep breath. This was the hard part. "Um, Hiccup was trapped under the Zippleback and his sword was a few feet away. I snuck up behind the dragon and grabbed the sword."

To my complete surprise, Dad smiled wider than I had ever seen him smile. "That's great! Now I can finally get Asher Hofferson off my back saying his son would make a better Chief than you." He seemed to be talking to himself as he kept talking. "That would mean I need to start training you, but when would we have time for lessons? I don't know when I could fit it into my schedule..."

I sat back in the chair and listened to my dad talk about his new plans. He was never proud of me, usually just disappointed. I felt myself dozing off, and soon I was fast asleep.

* * *

I woke back up a hour later and went down to the blacksmith. "Hello Astrid! Care to sharpen this sword?"

"Sure Gobber." I grabbed the shiny sword and looked it over. It was Hiccup's sword. I smiled as I realized he cleaned it after last night.

Gobber walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. "Yeah, that's right. That's the sword ya used last night!" When he said that, my smile faded. Luckily, Gobber didn't see my unhappiness at the thought of the dragon's death. "You'll have to come back to dragon training tomorrow now," Gobber continued.

Dragon training? The thought hadn't crossed my mind. My dad was going to be so mad when he realizes I didn't go to training!

"Yeah... I guess so," I said. I started to sharpen the sword. When it was done, I put it on the wall. Hiccup would come get it later.

I sharpened three more weapons before Hiccup came to pick up his sword. He was followed by Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Fishlegs, and Snotlout. Tuff and Ruff were fighting, as usual. Fishlegs was rambling on about some species of dragon can camouflage themselves, and Snotlout was exchanging insults with Hiccup jokingly.

"Yeah, while I may be on the larger side of the scale, you're a toothpick!" Snotlout grinned.

Hiccup threw back his hand and laughed, "At least I can fight a dragon!" He grabbed his sword and twirled it around. He tossed a gold coin at Gobber, who took it and tossed it to me.

I surprised myself by catching it, and shoved it into my pocket without looking at the teens. Unfortunately, not looking at them was the worst thing I could have done.

Ruffnut slammed her fist into my shoulder. "That was some amazing dragon fighting skills last night!" she yelled in my ear.

Tuffnut came up on my other side and agreed, "Yeah, it looked awesome!"

Ruffnut screamed, "Hey! I said it first!"

"Well I said it better!" Then the two muttonheads started fighting each other. In a blacksmith shop. With hot metal and fire everywhere. Gobber pushed them out, but each twin already had quite a few burns. They started comparing their burns and argued which ones were better. Then they started walking to Gothi's to get their burns treated.

"Hey!" Snotlout yelled at Gobber. "You let Useless mess with Hiccup's sword? Might as well give it back." He elbowed Hiccup.

Gobber turned angry eyes on Snotlout. "Maybe I should get her to chop _your_ head off next time instead of a dragon's." Snotlout scowled, but made no other 'Useless' jokes. He saw me kill the dragon himself.

Hiccup didn't say anything, but just turned to go. Snotlout glared at me before leaving, but Fishlegs stayed. I listened to his facts while sharpening weapons, and he told me about every dragon he read about. It was actually pretty interesting. If those guys listened to Fishlegs for once they would get out of a lot more dangerous situations. I made note to listen to him so I would be prepared if I needed his facts.

Fishlegs left when it got dark, and I walked back to my house.

Guess I have to get ready for dragon training tomorrow.


	7. Well I Did A Good Job

**Chapter 7: Well, I Did A Good Job**

I knew that I would come to come back eventually.

That still didn't make it any better.

Nadder spines flew past my head. A ran through the maze Gobber set up this morning with the Nadder right on my heels. Hiccup ran past me followed closely by Snotlout. Snotlout pushed me down and laughed. I picked myself up and ran down yet another turn in the maze. Stupid Snotlout.

The Nadder started to knock down the walls instead of jumping on top of them. I suddenly saw Hiccup standing on top of the walls. The dragon pushed the wall he was standing on and Hiccup jumped on another one. The walls fell like dominos, and Hiccup was still jumping from wall to wall.

He jumped off the falling walls blindly, and unfortunately, that meant on top of me. His sword went through my shield and into my left upper arm. "Hiccup!" I screamed. He pulled the sword out of my arm and my shield and helped Gobber round the Nadder back into its pen. All I could so was try not to scream again.

Gobber helped me to Gothi's. It seemed to take forever to get there, but it really wasn't very long. When we got there, she wrote, _the cut is very deep. She needs stitches. Then I need to clean it so it does not get infected._

Gobber translated and I nodded. After the stitches Gothi let me go. I looked at the ten stitches on my arm. Well, I did a good job sharpening the sword.

* * *

I was at the blacksmith all day, working on building a saddle for the model of Toothless. The tail fin could be controlled by the foot pedal on the saddle. Once I got the design how I liked it, I started making a bigger one of Toothless. It took me a lot longer than it should have because of my injury, but I knew Toothless was going to love it.

* * *

"Toothless! I finished it! Do you want to see if it works?" I called. Toothless glared at me from her patch of brunt ground. She was probably mad I had stayed away for a few days.

"Ok, I know you're mad, but I have my reasons!" When Toothless didn't respond, I sat down and leaned on her warm scales. "My dad came back. And I didn't want him to find you. Then, Hiccup cut my arm."

Toothless's ear fins shoot up when I said this. She sniffed my arm and growled. "I know it hurts, but I can't do anything about it." The black dragon just sighed and laid back down. "Hey, but I think I have a solution to your tail fin problem!"

I stood up and grabbed the saddle I laid on the ground a ways away. Toothless jumped up and let me strap the saddle on her. After I was finished, she flicked her tail so the one I made flew open. Her eyes widened and she gave me a gummy smile. I laughed and climbed on.

"Ok, let's take this nice and easy," I said, pulling my cheat sheet from my pocket. Toothless jumped into the air and I flicked my heel into third position. "Good so far!"

We flew for a bit, me making a few mistakes and accidentally crashing us into sea

stacks. "Sorry!" Toothless just slapped me with her ear fin.

We flew around for a little longer, and then we landed back at the cove.

"That was amazing!" I yelled. Toothless gave me a smile and started running laps around the cove. "Looks like you enjoyed that to!"


	8. Typical

**Chapter 8: Typical**

Today Dad told me he was going on another search party to find the nest. The nest of the dragons. The Vikings thought if they could destroy the nest, the dragons would leave. But for 300 years, no Viking has ever seen it. I thought they would've given up by now.

Dad also said I had to go back to dragon training, even with my hurt arm. Typical.

Today we were put up against a Terrible Terror. It just flew around, just out of reach, and smelled everyone. Then it landed on my left shoulder. At first I was relieved it didn't land on my right, because of the wound there, of course, but then I saw the stares of my classmates.

Luckily none of them ran at me, since I was the chief's daughter after all, and if one of them (that wasn't Hiccup) hurt me, Dad would not be happy. Hiccup gets pardoned all the time because he is a "asset to the tribe."

The little dragon probably smelled Toothless on me and thought I wasn't a threat. Gobber was in the corner, looking very uncomfortable. He knew I wouldn't- couldn't- kill the dragon on my shoulder.

The Terror pulled me out of my thoughts by getting off my shoulder and flying up and away, talking loudly. Then he flew right through the chained dome and to the forest.

"Are you serious Astrid?" Snotlout yelled as he stomped towards me. "You let it get away!"

"What?"

"You didn't kill it! You let it fly away! I could've got it! Any other muttonhead could've to!"

"I can't stab my arm!" I yelled.

"Oh, right. Hiccup already did that for you." I glared at Snotlout. He smirked at Hiccup, then told me, "Too bad it wasn't me."

"Alright, alright you two." Gobber's voice rang out through the arena. "Bright and early tomorrow we meet here you guys."

I walked out of the ring angrily.

* * *

I returned to the cove, looking for Toothless. I yelled, "Hey, want to go on a permanent vacation?"

Suddenly, a dagger flew past my arm. I turned quickly to find Hiccup leaning against a rock, his arm still out from throwing the dagger. I frowned and hoped Toothess would stay hidden for the time being. Where was she?

Hiccup stood up and went to retrieve his dagger. "What are you doing here?" he asked, like we were having a polite conversation over tea.

"Um... I'm in the forest everyday." Hiccup nodded and picked up his blade. Looking it over, his missed the Night Fury behind him.

But I didn't.

Toothless sent a plasma blast close to Hiccup's feet. She must know he cut my arm. Or saw him throw a dagger at me. Either way, I couldn't let her kill him, so I ran in front of Toothless and raised my arms up.

"No Toothless! You can't kill him!" She retracted her teeth and looked at me sadly, then snarled at something behind me.

I turned just in time to see Hiccup draw his sword and see him running towards Toothless. "Run!" Hiccup yelled at me. Seriously? Now he wants to be heroic? I grabbed the handle of the sword and used all my strength to stop it. Hiccup started to say something, but then the Terrible Terror from this morning appeared out of nowhere and attached itself to his face.

Wow, I did not see that one coming. I guess he was thanking me for saving him this morning.

"Ahh! Get off!" Hiccup tried to stab the little dragon off his face. Not wanting the dragon to get hurt, I whistled. The dragon flew over to my shoulder. Hmm, I didn't think that would work.

Hiccup was trying to catch his breath when Toothless pounced on him and growled. Hiccup still had his sword, but I kicked his hand and he let go. Then I yelled, "Stop Toothless!" The dragon got off Hiccup. He just laid there, looking stunned. Then I told him, "You scared her."

"Her?" he panted.

"Yes. Her. Hiccup, meet Toothless. Toothless, don't kill Hiccup."

Toothless snorted and bared her teeth at Hiccup. "You're crazy." Then he got up and ran away, looking back as if we would follow him. I turned to Toothless.

"Really? If he goes and tells everyone you're here, they're going to kill me, and then you!" Toothless jerked her head towards her back, where her saddle was still strapped on. I jumped on. The Terror tried to get on to, but I said, "No, you stay here." He pouted but I knew it was for the best.

We followed Hiccup, and waited for the right moment. He jumped over a log, and that's when we struck. Toothless grabbed him when he was still in the air, and she carried him on the top of the tallest tree that we could find. She dropped Hiccup so he was swinging on a branch, then landed on a branch beside him.

"Astrid! Get me down! Now!" Hiccup yelled. He was dangling precariously off the tree, and I looked down at him with an amused smile.

"Ok, just climb on Toothess," I said in a amused tone.

Hiccup noticed the tone and said, "Are you crazy?"

"I thought we already established this."

He glared at me. "This is no time for jokes! My life is in danger!"

I leaned over to him and stretched my arm out. "Your life was always in danger. A Night Fury never misses. Toothless could kill you anytime she wanted to."

He looked at my hand for a minute, and said, "If I get on that dragon, will you take me to the ground?"

I nodded and Hiccup grabbed my hand. I helped get behind me on the saddle. "Ok Toothess, down. Gently." Toothless stretched her wings out, and I noticed she seemed edgy. I barely got out a "Hold on!" before she launched into the air.

Hiccup was screaming behind me, but I was focusing on holding on. Toothless had never done so many flips before. Maybe I should make a harness so I won't fall off.

Hiccup wrapped his arms around my waist and hid his face in my shoulder. After a few more flips and twirls, he yelled, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for cutting your arm and making fun of you! Just get me off this thing!"

Toothless must have decided that his apology was what she wanted, because she fell into a slow glide. I smiled as I watched Hiccup take it all in, as I did the first time I flew. He was amazed. He started petting Toothless absentmindedly.

"Hey Astrid- I really am sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to cut your arm."

I knew he hadn't meant to cut me, but he did make fun of me. A lot. So I just said, "Maybe. But just do me one favor."

"What?" Hiccup sounded surprised.

I twisted in the saddle so I could make eye contact with him. "You can't tell anyone about Toothess."

He nodded, and I turned back in the saddle to face forwards. Just then Toothless dived down, and we were suddenly surrounded by dragons. Each dragon was holding dead animals (probably their kill), which made me more nervous than I cared to admit. We watched as a volcano came into view. Toothless flew in a opening and both of use gasped in surprise.

We were in the nest.


	9. Thanks For Kidnapping Me

**Chapter 9: Thanks For Kidnapping Me**

The heat of the nest burned my face. Hiccup held on to me tightly as we watched the dragons drop their kill into the hole in the bottom of the volcano. Toothless landed on a ridge near the opening. We watched as a Gronkle dropped a few fish into the hole.

A huge head emerged from the fog. Humongous jaws opened to catch the Gronkle and close around it.

That must be the queen of the nest! I wasn't sure if there was one or not, since some nests have them and some don't. Once my fascination wore off, I realized that we were in _the nest_. The one our ancestors searched for.

"We need to get out of here," Hiccup whispered into my ear. I nodded and Toothless jumped off the ledge. I tensed and hoped the queen didn't notice us. No such luck. The huge jaws tried to trap us on the way out, but we got away.

We landed in the cove about a half a hour later. Hiccup jumped off immediately.

"We found the nest! Hurry, we've got to go tell-" I cut him off by grabbing his arm.

"You promised you wouldn't say anything about Toothless," I said seriously.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "We just found the nest. The one that we were told stories about as kids!" He yanked his arm out of my grasp. "And you want me to keep quiet because of your _pet dragon_!"

I glared at him.

After a moment, Hiccup looked to the now-dark sky. "Then what do we do?"

I was surprised he agreed. "I have no idea," I admitted.

Hiccup turned his gaze back towards me. "We will figure it out in the morning."

"Please don't tell anyone about Toothless," I pleaded.

Hiccup stepped forward and hugged me. "I won't," he whispered. "Thanks for kidnapping me." He grinned at me and ran off.

I must have stood there for a long time, I was so stunned.

* * *

The next day passed quite uneventfully. I didn't mess up something in dragon training, and the afternoon was filled with more flying with Toothless. My dad was on a hunting trip on the other side of the island, so I had no worries of him finding out about my adventures.

We landed in the cove for a drink of water. "That was pretty awesome!" I yelled. I got off Toothless and tried to fix my hair, which was messed up from the flight.

A laugh sounded from on top of a rock. I turned to see Hiccup laughing at my disheveled appearance.

"You try and ride a Night Fury and keep your hair perfect."

Hiccup got off the rock and said, "Fair enough."

I suddenly had a idea. "Want to go riding?"

Hiccup gave her a questioning look. "Sure." It sounded more like a question.

I got back on Toothless and motioned for him to climb on. He did, holding on to the back of the saddle instead of holding onto me like last time. I was the tiniest disappointed, but I shook it off.

We took off and glided over the woods. My face stung with the cold, but I smiled anyway. I loved flying.

I could tell Hiccup loved it to, because he agreed to come today. Maybe he liked hanging out with me.

No, he wouldn't lean back and try not to touch me if he liked me. It's ok. It's not like I cared anyway.

Suddenly, Toothless started to free fall. "What are you doing?" I screamed. Hiccup leaned forward and grabbed me, but I barely noticed. I looked backwards and saw the wire running from the saddle to the tail fin was broken in half.

 _No!_

We crashed in the middle of the woods. My vision blacked out for a minute, but I could hear distant shouts of, "Dragon!" "That's a Night Fury!" "Get it!"

I felt the hard ground under me, and I wondered why I couldn't get up. Toothless wasn't holding me down, I could see her laying beside me. Then I realized an unconscious Hiccup was on top of me, pinning me to the ground. Men started appearing in my line of sight and started to attack Toothless. I wriggled out from under Hiccup and tried to yell at Vikings that were tying up Toothless, but my throat wouldn't work.

"Is that Hiccup and Astrid?" A faint voice sent waves of pain through my skull. Rough hands grabbed my shoulders and hauled me to my feet.

"No... Don't hurt her..." I ground out, instantly regretting it. Black spots danced between my eyes as I tried to fight the pain. Maybe I should just stay quiet.

I became aware of the person that was holding me up talking to me. "Really Astrid?" he said in a exasperated tone. "I can't leave for one afternoon without you messing up everything!"

Oh, it's Dad.

 _Oh no it's Dad!_

I turned and made eye contact with him. He was angry and disappointed. I dropped my gaze.

"Where did this dragon come from?"

"Well, um..." I faltered. I couldn't tell him this dragon was my friend. Hiccup groaned and stood up, putting his hand on my shoulder to keep himself steady.

Dad did not miss his action. He narrowed his eyes and said menacingly, "Someone better explain what's going on."

Hiccup looked at me. _What do we do?_

Seeing the look, Dad said, "I will find out eventually. You might as well tell me-"

His words were cut off by a huge roar. Toothless saw Dad gripping my shoulder and thought he was going to hurt me. I kind of agreed with her. Dad let go of my shoulder abruptly, making me stumble while trying to gain my balance.

He marched up to the Night Fury. Both the dragon and my dad had rage in their eyes. Both had different reasons, though. Toothless snarled at him, but my dad did not seem worried. He started to unbuckle the saddle roughly. Once he got it off, he threw it in my direction.

I picked it up, and saw what happened. The cord which went from the foot pedal I used to the tail fin was too short. The tension caused the cord to break, resulting in the crash.

"Take the dragon to the holding area!" my dad bellowed. Then he turned to me and Hiccup. "We will discuss this when we get back."

He took hold of my left arm, which made me notice the stitches had torn and it was bleeding again. Dad scowled, and took hold of my other arm. Then he grabbed Hiccup. He started to drag us back to Berk.


	10. You're Not A Viking

**Chapter 10: You're not a Viking**

Dad paced in front of me angrily. He had sent Hiccup home long ago. I sat on the floor, rubbing my arm where new bruises were forming.

"How dare you keep this from me?" he said, his voice thundering through my skull.

"You would have killed her," I mumbled. "She doesn't deserve that."

Dad stopped pacing and stomped to me. "Did you just say that _devil_ doesn't deserve to die? Those dragons have killed hundreds of us!"

I stood up quickly, ignoring the pain in my head. "And we've killed thousands of them! The only reason the raid us is because if they don't take enough food, they'll be eaten!" I blurted out. Only after the words left my mouth did I realize my mistake.

Dad froze. "They'll be eaten?" He looked wild, his face red and his eyes wide. He whispered, "You've been to the nest?"

I backed up and said, "Did I say nest? I don't think I-"

"How did you find it?" Dad interrupted me loudly.

"I didn't find it! Toothless did, only a dragon can."

Dad straightened and looked out the window of our house. I recognized that look. "No, no, no! You can't go, you have no idea what your up against!" Dad turned and walked out the door. "Dad, listen to me! It's teeth are the size of trees! It's eyes are bigger than you! You can't win this one!"

I grabbed Dad's arm. He shoved me back to the ground. "You've thrown your lot in with them. You're not a Viking." He turned away from me and walked towards the door. "You're not my daughter."

I watched him leave. Once he was gone, I gave up trying to hold back tears.

* * *

I did not need to leave my position on the ground to tell that the men had taken off to go find the nest. I didn't need to walk outside to know that they had taken Toothless with them.

I was miserable. I had messed everything up, once again. I can't do anything right! I had let them capture Toothless, and now the Vikings were going to find the nest and die.

I curled into a ball on the ground.

I knew they would die. I had seen the huge Queen, and I knew they wouldn't make it out alive. I cried because my father was going to die. And I cried because my only friend was going to die.

I dimly heard the door open, but I was facing away from the door and didn't turn around. Something poked softly in my back.

"Astrid?"

I recognized that voice. I groaned and sat up. "Not now, Hiccup."

He poked my back harder. "Stop moping! What's wrong?"

I felt something snap inside of me. "What's wrong?" I stood up and turned to face him. "My father, your father, all of the search party, and my best friend are all about to die!"

Hiccup didn't even flinch at my outburst. "Then you must feel horrible. You've lost everything. You aren't even a Viking anymore," he said, but his tone didn't taunt me.

"Thanks for summing that up," I mumbled. Hiccup poked me in the shoulder.

"What are you gonna do about it?"

I glared at him, then my eyes widened as I had an idea. "Something stupid."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure you've already done that."

"Then something crazy!"

"Perfect."

* * *

I watched Hiccup lead the teens into the arena. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were in an argument, as usual. Snotlout looked annoyed and Fishlegs looked excited and nervous. Hiccup smiled at me as they walked in.

"So, what's this plan of yours? I mean, I know my dad is going to be okay because he's a Jorgenson, but I'll help rescue everyone else," Snotlout said.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and said, "Lets get started!"

I smiled and turned to the doors behind me. I thought about which dragon I should bring out first, then decided on the Monstrous Nightmare. Snotlout would like her.

I led the big dragon out into the open. I could hear the teens behind me gasping, but keep my eyes on the dragon. We stopped right beside Snotlout. I grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand towards time dragon's snout. Snotlout laid his hand on the Nightmare and laughed. I let him find the Nightmare's favorite spot to get scratched before turning to the other teens.

"Who wants to go next?"

The twins obviously wanted to meet their dragons first, but argued about who's dragon would be cooler. So, I picked a Zippleback for them. Maybe the dragon could keep the twins out of too much trouble.

Then I picked out a Gronkle for Fishlegs. They seemed to go well with each other, both being calm and decisive. I watched as the teens gained the dragon's trust, and Hiccup elbowed me.

"What about me?" he asked, smiling.

I grinned and led him to the only closed door left. "Since you like to throw daggers so much, I thought you might like something that has good aim."

I opened the door to reveal a Nadder, and Hiccup grinned mischievously.

* * *

I sat in my little corner of the blacksmith's shop. I just finished fixing Toothless's saddle and making a harness for me so I didn't fall off.

"Watcha doing?" I turned to see Hiccup leaning against the doorframe.

I picked up the saddle and harness. "Just fixed my saddle. Is everyone ready to go?"

"Yes, they're waiting in the cove. I told them I was coming to get you and we are going to leave," he answered.

"Good." I walked to the door, but before I crossed the threshold I stopped.

Hiccup turned around and asked, "Are you Ok?"

No. "What if this doesn't work? What if everyone dies? Hiccup, I don't know-"

Hiccup stopped me by putting his arms around me and his lips were suddenly on mine. Hiccup Hofferson was kissing me!

After a few moments, Hiccup pulled away and smiled. "Hey, your plan might be crazy and I might not have 100% chance of success, but it's the best chance anyone's got." He took the saddle from me and put it under his arm. "It's going to work!"

* * *

"There they are!" Fishlegs yelled from somewhere beside us. It was hard to see anyone in this fog. I sighed and readjusted my grip on Toothless's saddle from behind Hiccup. It was hard riding his Nader without a saddle and holding onto my saddle at the same time, and we had been flying for about a hour.

We suddenly broke out of the fog. Tuffnut yelled, "Wow!"

The fight had already begun. The queen was outside of the nest, roaring at the Vikings. "Can you break it down for us Fishlegs?" I yelled over the noise.

"Small eyes, huge nostrils! Relies heavily on hearing and scent!" he yelled back. "Head and tail used as defense! Stay clear of both!"

"Thanks!" I thought the fight over for a moment. Then I yelled, "Fishlegs and Snotlout, I need you guys to distract the queen and see if she has a blind spot!" They immediately took off towards the fight. "Tuff and Ruff, do your worst! Make her mad." The twins grinned evilly at each other as I bent my head towards Hiccup's. "Let's go find Toothless."

Hiccup steered his dragon towards the ships. I spotted Toothless struggling against ropes that were wrapping her wings to her body. She spotted me and let out a huge roar, breaking through the ropes at the same time. I jumped off the Nader before Hiccup could land.

"Go help the others!" I shouted to him, and he nodded and took off. I turned to Toothless and gave her a huge smile. She smiled back. Then I showed her the new saddle and started to buckle it on her. Once I was done, I started to climb on, but something grabbed my from behind.

"Astrid I'm so sorry," said my father from behind me. I realized he was the something that grabbed me. He turned me around to face him. "I should have listened to you, we have no chance with this monster."

I didn't hug him back, so he let go of me. "I'm going to go do what needs to be done," I told him.

"You don't have to go up there," he said.

"We're Vikings," I told him, grinning. "It's an occupational hazard." With that, I climbed on Toothless and shot into the air towards the queen.


	11. The Final Fight

**Chapter 11: The Final Fight**

As I circled the queen, I thought of possible ways to defeat the dragon.

She was ginormous, with six small eyes and huge nostrils. A crown of spikes jutted out of her head. A huge spiked ball was at the end of her tail. I noticed her small wings.

If we could get her in the air, we might have a better chance in a sky battle. I quickly decided against the idea since the other teens had only met their dragons this morning, and probably couldn't handle a battle in the sky.

I watched Snotlout's dragon fire into one of the queen's eyes. She roared in pain and snapped at him. Snotlout barely managed to dodge her attack. Then I had an idea that just might work.

I leaned forward on Toothless, I ran my plan through my head. Yes, there were many ways it could go wrong, but it was our only hope.

Toothless flew as close as possible to the queen, where Hiccup had somehow managed to fall off his dragon and onto the queen's head.

"Come on! I have a plan!" I yelled to him. He jumped on Toothless behind me and we raced off. I gathered all the riders and told them the plan. Hiccup found his Nadder and we all took off.

"Fishlegs and Snotlout cover the eyes!" I yelled. They went to opposite sides and waited for the signal.

"Twins and Hiccup go to the nose!" For once, the twins listened and went with Hiccup, and waited. Then Toothless climbed higher into the sky.

 _Three_. Toothless stopped and stayed in midair for a split-second.

 _Two_. She started to dive, letting out the signature Night Fury whistle.

 _One_. Toothless let out the biggest plasma blast I have ever seen straight towards the queen's open mouth. The riders shot into their assigned spots the second Toothless's shot hit the huge dragon.

The dragon went down, screaming. The riders flew up into the sky to escape the flames, and I followed them.

The queen was still alive. I could see her breath heavily. I knew she would probably die soon, but I didn't want to take any chances. I could sense Toothless agreeing with me. We flipped in the air and dove back towards the queen.

But before we could do anything, the queen exploded. I was so caught up in the fire blinding my eyes, and trying to get out of the dive, I didn't see the huge spiked tail heading our way.

I felt a huge jolt as the tail slammed into us and the weightlessness of flying without Toothless. I saw Toothless fighting to get her balance, then realize I wasn't on her back. She looked towards me, with fear in her eyes, and started to dive after me.

I wanted to yell at her to save herself, to not go after me, but my vision blacked out before I could.

* * *

Pain.

That's all I could feel. I took a deep breath, then realized my mistake as searing pain traveled through my whole body. I moaned, and I felt hot breath on my face. Opening my eyes, I saw Toothless's green eyes staring back at me.

"Toothless!" I whispered hoarsely. She was obviously excited, wiggling around the house.

Wait.

This was my house. Toothless was in my house!

"Does Dad know you're here?" My voice was so hoarse I wasn't sure if Toothless could hear what I said. Toothless ignored me and started swinging on the rafters. I sighed and started to get up.

I pulled my blanket off and I gasped. Toothless ran to me and started to purr, obviously sad.

I looked at my left leg. From the middle of my shin up, my leg was covered in bandages. But the bottom half of my shin and my foot- was gone. I looked up at Toothless, who purred and rubbed her head against me. I winced when she touched my left arm; every square inch was black and blue. That was where the queen's tail slammed into me.

I sighed and shifted a bit. Even that small movement hurt horrendously. Looks like I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

Toothless suddenly raced out the door. She came back in a minute later, dragging Dad in by the back of his shirt. He saw that I was awake and rushed to the bed.

"Astrid! I'm so glad you're awake!" he said, grabbing a cup and filling it with water.

He handed it to me and I asked, "How long was I out?"

"Two weeks." I spit out the water I had just drank.

"Two weeks?!"

Dad nodded solemnly. "For the first few days we weren't sure if you would make it." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Your leg was burned off, there wasn't anything we could do."

I nodded and looked towards Toothless. She looked very upset. She probably hadn't flown since the fight. "What happened?" I asked.

Dad sighed and pulled a chair close to my bed. "After you and your friends fought the beast- yes they're all ok," he said after seeing my fearful expression. He continued, "We had a hard time finding you after all the fire burned out. That black hide made it even harder." He glanced at Toothless. "When I found your dragon, she was just laying there, barely alive. I didn't see you, so I assumed-" Here he stopped, taking in a deep breath. "But then she lifted her wings, revealing you." He reached out to pet the Night Fury, who licked his hand. "Gothi was still at Berk, so we got your friends to bring you and your dragon back." Then he winked at me. "A certain someone was very anxious about getting you back."

I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly who Dad was taking about. I was about to respond when the front door slammed open to reveal and panting Hiccup. "Tuff said you were awake!" he exclaimed, before noticing Dad and going red. "Sorry, I'll come back later..."

Dad jumped out of his chair. "No, I was just about to go talk to Gobber about getting some prototypes of prosthetics!" He walked out the door and winked at me.

"What was that about?" Hiccup asked, seeing the wink. He walked over to the chair my dad had just vacated and sat down. From up close, I could see many burns and bruises on his face, but didn't say anything about them.

I glared at the door as it shut behind him. "He was explaining to me how the battle ended after I went down," I explained.

"Oh..." Awkward silence filled the room. I used my arms to push myself in a sitting position.

"Is everyone ok?"

Hiccup sighed, "Ruff broke her arm and Snotlout got a pretty bad burn but everyone's going to be fine. You were the worst by far, though."

I gave him a half smile. "That's me."

He frowned. "Are you Ok?"

I shrugged. "I will be. I'll have to make a prosthetic, and-"

I was cut off by Hiccup's lips on mine. I raised one of my hands to run through his hair and kissed him back. After a moment, he leaned back and smiled. Then he punched my arm lightly.

I grimaced and said, "What was that for?"

"That was for scaring me." Then he leaned forward and kissed me again. "That's a thank you!"


	12. Two Months Later

**Chapter 12: Two Months Later**

I limped along towards the arena. My leg still hurt, but it was almost nothing compared to the first day I started using my prosthetic six weeks ago.

For the past few weeks I had been helping Gobber make saddles for the dragons and helped new riders train their dragons. All the dragons from the nest followed us home to Berk, so there were plenty of dragons to pick from.

Toothless wouldn't leave my side for a second since the fight with the queen, so I always had someone to help me with my leg if needed.

"Hey!" Hiccup grinned as he and his Nadder landed beside me. Toothless immediately ran to the dragon, who Hiccup named Sharpshot. It was a fitting name; the dragon could hit anything with his spines.

"Hey Hiccup," I answered him. He jumped off Sharpshot and fell into a walk beside me. "Whatcha up to?"

"Nothing much," he answered me. "The twins decided switching heads would be more effective practice than the drills you told them to do, so I had to clean up that mess."

I rolled my eyes and grinned. "I'm glad I missed that one."

"Next time I'll come find you!" Hiccup promised and elbowed me.

I laughed and waved at Fishlegs, who ran up to us.

"Astrid! Meatlug just spewed out the weirdest lava I've ever seen! I was thinking you might want to experiment with it at the blacksmith."

I thought about it. "Yeah, I bet we could make really light metal if we used the right combination of ingredients."

Fishlegs turned to Hiccup, who raised his hands and said, "I have no idea what you guys just said!"

The three of us laughed. I spotted Snotlout running towards us with the twins close behind. "Hey guys!" Snotlout yelled as he ran past us.

Tuffnut stopped when he got to us, but Ruffnut keep chasing Snotlout. "Hey guys! I found this awesome chicken and I named her Chicken! And she's the best. We just-"

"Wait, did you just say you named a chicken Chicken?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah. Were you even listening?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes and asked me, "You want to go flying?"

"Yeah!" Tuffnut yelled, running off to get his twin.

I jumped on Toothless and Hiccup got on Sharpshot.

"Three, two, one, go!"

We shot off, followed closely by Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout.

"Whooo hooo!"

 **The End**


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